In the top of the fourth, Orioles reliever Jeremy Guthrie hit Kevin Youkilis, leading to warnings being issued for the second straight day. The problem there is that the pitch was a changeup. Guthrie clearly had no intention of hitting Youkilis, but Foster felt he had to gain control of the situation or some such nonsense.

So, in the fifth, when a Weiland fastball clipped Vladimir Guerrero in the hand, both Weiland and Red Sox manager Terry Francona were tossed. The Red Sox were up 7-6 at the time, and they were hoping Weiland would get through the inning and become eligible for the win. Again, there was no intention from Weiland there.

In the sixth, there may well have been some intention. Mike Gonzalez, who ran a pitch up and in on the Yankees’ Chris Dickersonthat left Dickerson with a concussion back in April, threw a fastball behind Ortiz and to the backstop. It could have slipped, but Gonzalez was the least likely of any Baltimore pitchers, besides maybe Gregg, to get the benefit of the doubt. He and manager Buck Showalter were tossed immediately.

The dugouts never did get involved in any of the action, and things went smoothly after Gonzalez’s ejection. The Red Sox added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh that they didn’t need, as the Orioles never scored again after touching up Weiland for six runs in the second.

The Red Sox knocked Mitch Atkins out early, as Marco Scutaro, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis all homered in the second. That led to the rare relief appearance for Guthrie. Guthrie was actually pretty successful in his 3 1/3 innings, allowing just one run, but since it was the go-ahead run, he was tagged with his 12th loss of the season. The unlucky right-hander is nine games under .500 despite a decent 4.18 ERA.

Francois, It was Weiland’s 1st start in the bigs. He was destroyed in the 2nd inning, and had little control. Francona was trying (I think) to give him a chance at a win before he gets sent back to the minors.

I would think that gonzalez would get the most benefit of the doubt mostly because he is awful and has no idea where the ball is going when it leaves his hand, but there were two outs and nobody plus he threw behind Ortiz so there was clearly intent.